José Lopez is a TruView Team Leader with more than 13 years of experience in the background screening industry. Located in TruView’s California office, he leads a team of research analysts in delivering customized, compliant, accurate background screens with one-on-one client service. He performs quality audits; mentors screeners; writes and reviews reports; and performs complex background screens. Previously, José was a Senior Implementation Specialist for a California-based background screening firm, where he developed skills in project management, client implementation, and database administration, and he served as the point of contact for client ATS system integrations. José has extensive customer service experience. He completed the National Association of Professional Background Investigators FCRA Certification course, is fluent in Spanish, and studied engineering and computer science at California State University at Northridge.

TruView: What led you into a career in background screening?

José: I used to work in the insurance and investment industry for a Fortune 100 organization. I was looking for a change of industry. I knew that I wanted to be in an industry where I could grow and learn. I also wanted to work at a small to mid-sized organization where I felt I could make more of a difference. By pure chance, I came across an ad for a position with a background screening firm and was surprised to see how many of the boxes in the description seemed to line up with my experience and what I wanted in a career. Once I got into the industry, it became something I really wanted to do. Thirteen years later, I think I made a good choice.

TruView: How did your prior experience prepare you for your role at TruView?

José: Being in insurance and finance, I was used to working in a heavily regulated environment. Having to adhere to regulations at both the federal level and individual state levels was a simple transition for me. Like background screening, that industry was extremely competitive and ultimately came down to small differentiators like efficiency and value. More importantly, at its heart, it was a service company, and I have always liked to work with people in a team environment.

TruView: What do you love about background screening? What motivates you each day?

José: What don’t I love about the industry?! There is so much to learn, and so many aspects to what it is that we do, from the research, to the end product, to helping employers make informed decisions. I tell people all the time that there is never a boring day in this industry. As far as motivation, I would have to say that our mission and our team would top the list. I consider myself fortunate to work with such a great team. Their drive, work ethic, and commitment pushes me to do the same. I also believe that our clients put a great deal of trust in us. No company wants to be the next company that’s on the news or that has an incident at their facility because of a bad hire. If you really think about it, our clients are entrusting their business, their reputation, and the safety of their employees and customers on us. That’s a lot of responsibility and it’s not something that I take lightly. It’s something I think about every single day.

TruView: Tell us a story about “finding the needle”—about a TruView success story you were involved in.

José: One that stands out was a background screen from early last year in which a national criminal database search listed a candidate as a registered sex offender in Texas, with a recent conviction date in 2015. County and Statewide searches were completed and returned some records but not the underlying sex offense. This was odd, given the supposed conviction date. A search through the Department of Corrections didn’t get us anywhere. Although the client doesn’t typically do federal criminal searches, we needed to try to get additional details. Our federal district search finally located the record. It turned out that the underlying charge was for “coercion/enticing” but since it was across state lines, the case landed in federal jurisdiction. It was a success for us and helped the client make their hiring decision.